Fans have already noticed that Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) sports a much different look in the Marvel Phase Two sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as opposed to his more traditional costumes in Captain America: The First Avenger and Marvel's The Avengers. While fans may argue that the follow-up is straying from the Marvel comic book's iconic look, director Joe Russo revealed that isn't exactly the case, since the costume honors the more recent Captain America print storyline.

Here's what the director had to say in a recent interview with SFX Magazine, where he teased that the costume reflects Steve Rogers' full journey as Captain America, and that fans will understand why they went with this look when they see the movie on April 4.

"It was about a real world grounding approach to the character, in the spirit of Ed Brubaker's book, which is postmodern and deconstructionist and a grounded thriller. We wanted to put Cap in a space where he's a special forces operative for SHIELD who goes on missions around the world that are clandestine and sometimes require a certain level of anonymity or stealth. We wanted to use his Super Soldier outfit from the comic books as a way to represent, thematically, his place in the world of SHIELD and the difference between working for SHIELD and being Captain America. That's something that gets explored on a very concrete level in terms of what outfits are used in the film. We didn't feel like we were messing with the icon. People can say that they're fans of the books if they're only loyal to the '60s and '70s version of the character - well, then you're a fan of that version of the character, but if you've been reading the books till the current runs then this is a journey that the character goes on and it's a pretty explicit journey. We just felt like we were being faithful to the more recent issues of the books. The movie has a very thematic component in terms of the use of costumes. When you come to see the film I think you'll understand why we made the choice we made."

The story centers on Captain America teaming up with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) to take on Cap's former ally Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who has transformed himself into the powerful Winter Soldier. Are you a fan of this new look? Or would you rather see Steve in a more traditional costume? Chime in with your thoughts below.